To Be Held
by CodyNaomiSwire
Summary: Android!Wheatley and Chell have a bit of a rest while escaping Aperture, and Chell randomly wakes to find herself cradled in Wheatley's arms. Clean Chelley fluff.


Chell winced, groaned, and took a deep inhale as she began to regain consciousness.

As her foggy senses began to clear, her brain groped tiredly at her memory, trying to recollect what had happened within the few moments before she had blacked out. As the murkiness of unconsciousness began to dissipate, she felt a throbbing pain in her right leg and in her head. The headache was probably the result of a combination of things – the sudden lack of adrenaline-saturated oxygen, dehydration, being flung through portals constantly – and the pain in her leg must have been…oh yes, from the metal plank that had glanced off it as it came crashing down; as she and Wheatley had been fleeing for their lives, and GLaDOS sent whole test chambers slamming together, crushing the catwalks as they went. Chell had just managed to dive into the lift, escaping death once again, but not without the plank hitting off one of her long-fall boots. Although they were the sturdiest footgear in the world – being able to save one from injury after falling from incredible heights, and blocking the harmful effects of hard-light bridges – there were still instances where they couldn't protect her entirely. While the boot on her right leg had saved her from having it fractured, it was still going to leave a horrible bruise there for a while.

As Chell reached up to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, see felt that something had been curled around her, cocooning her in a firm yet gentle grip that crossed behind her back, and pressed her up against another soft yet firm surface. Her eyes snapped open as near panic began ringing warning alerts in her mind and reflexes. Having just escaped Her test chambers, there was no way she was going to be caught and dragged back like a fly caught in a web.

Not without a fight anyway!

Luckily, Chell's reflexes were incredibly sharp, despite her half-sleepy state, otherwise Wheatley would have found himself sprawling halfway down the abandoned corridor, with no small amount of damage done to his jaw and artificial ribcage. As Chell's eyes shot open, she recognized the light gray color of Wheatley's android jumpsuit, and the blue glow from his core showing dimly through the fabric. As quickly as the panic had begun to set it, it gave way to a slight feeling of annoyance – as, in this sort of situation, it was never fun to have your escape partner scare the daylights out of you like that – but that quickly gave way to a sort of surprise as she suddenly realized he had been holding her in his lap, hugging her gently into his chest.

Chell had no idea when or why he had set her in his lap, and she wasn't very comfortable with the fact that he had touched her without her knowing it, but something about the situation caused her to pause for a moment. Staying as still as she could, Chell looked up at his face. She hadn't heard him make a peep since she had woken up, which was very unusual for him, and for a moment she was concerned. But as she looked up, she saw that he himself looked like he was asleep, or perhaps more in a sleep 'mode.' He was sitting with his back against the wall, and his head turned a little to one side. For the first time since she had known him, Chell thought he looked…well, peaceful, sitting like that. He had been so skittish and twitchy and afraid so much of the time, Chell had never pictured him being able to just relax for a little while. Perhaps if she herself wasn't still so tired, she would have at least moved to free herself from his embrace, and then move on with their escape, ignoring what most likely would have been Wheatley's frantic apologies and embarrassed explanations, and then just try to forget this awkward moment ever happened.

Chell was never a very touchy-feely sort of person to begin with anyway, and yet…it did feel…nice, to be held like this. More than a bit odd, sure – as it had been so long since she had any kind of close contact with anyone, and the fact that Wheatley didn't breathe in sleep mode was a small, disconcerting reminder that he wasn't actually human – but in all the time she had been in the facility up to that point, she had never felt anything so warm and so comforting. Chell couldn't remember anything about her life before Aperture, but she had some sort of sense that if there was a place she would have called 'home' before, it would have felt something like this.

With this thought, Chell let out a small, tired sigh, and found herself snuggling a little further into Wheatley, her fingers slightly gripping the fabric of his suit. Had she not already closed her eyes again, she would have seen Wheatley smile in his sleep. But she did feel him pull her even a little closer, as the two tired escapees retreated into the warm darkness of their dreams.


End file.
